Which Type of Guitar Strings Are Better On Acoustic Guitars - Nylon or Steel?

When you come to choose which type of acoustic guitar to purchase in order to play your music, you have a variety of choices of style. You can select from Jumbo, Spanish, Classical to name a few. The focus on this talk is on which type of strings you put on there, namely Steel or Nylon strings.

Looking at nylon first, these tend to be softer on the fingertips and have a more tender delicate twang from the sound. In that respect I would recommend that nylon strings are the perfect choice for a beginner guitarist as for the first few months you will find the tips of your fingers will become fairly tender. Your body will respond to this by developing tougher skin on the fingers you use on the fretboard to make chords and in turn will assist you in the future when playing steel strings which are tougher.

The other reason for selecting nylon strings would be if you are looking to play a certain style of music. For example, classical music and certain genres of Spanish guitar songs favour nylon strings, classical music in past has been reluctant to acknowledge the guitar as a member of an orchestra and debate has been continued for centuries with no real conclusion. As it stands it is occasionally used but mainly on nylon stringed classical guitars only.

A nylon stringed guitar can be tricky to replace strings as at the bridge end, near the sound hole the strings tend put be placed on with a looping and intertwining method as opposed to the simpler plastic rod on the bridge of a steel stringed guitar. For that reason I would advise you see a specialist when replacing strings if you are not familiar with them.

The steel string variety is a more modern invention, in fact it was introduced as last as the 20th century in a widespread capacity. Nowadays they tend to be favoured by rock and pop modern bands due to the crisp sound they produce which can be used towards a more edgy cutting sound.

Another reason why they are favoured amongst modern musicians is that for live performances when playing in a full band with drums, bass, keyboards and other instruments the steel strings can be used alongside a pickup which will interpret the vibrations from the manipulation of the strings and then can be converted into an electrical signal, then it can be amplified through a guitar amp and this warm personal sound of an acoustic guitar can be projected to hundreds, perhaps even thousands of people in an audience at a gig.

In summary, nylon strings are a great choice when you are playing music of a specific genre as mentioned earlier or if you are a beginner looking for a gentle way to become involved in guitar playing and composing, if you are performing to a louder audience you may increase sound by using a microphone but if you are looking to play music on a louder, more penetrating way then steel strings are the modern and more technologically adapted way to bring your sound to yourself or the audience you are performing to.